Afflicted
by Twisted-Persona
Summary: Takes place after episode 158. Yami has been infected by the power of the Orichalcos. He falls deeper into it grasp while his friends try to help him recover. He needs to rescue Yugi, but he needs to save himself first.
1. Chapter 1

**_Chapter 1:_**

Yami sat at the window of the RV. Rebecca and her Grandfather were in town and the others were sitting outside. Yami rubbed the orichalcos stone on his necklace while remembering yesterday's duel. It had started off as he'd expected, the same way it always did. Then Rafael had given him "The Sea of Orichalcos" at things started to get strange. He had sworn not to play the card, because it was evil, wasn't it? Of course it was... Yugi had been there, begging him not to play it, and for a while he listened. The card, though, seemed to want him to do the opposite of what his partner wanted. It remained in his hand and the longer he held it, trying not to look at it, the more he felt he needed to use it. It was telling him so. Things were starting to get rough on the field as well. He was losing. The card was his only hope to defeat Rafael; He had to play it. The moment he was about to place the card in his duel disc, somebody grabbed his arm, preventing him from moving it. Looking over he saw it was Yugi. The young boy looked desperate saying, "I won't let you play that card!"

Yami yanked his arm out of the boy's grip, shouting, "Its the only way!" and put the seal in play. He didn't really remember much of what happened after that. He's gone insane, become evil, he knew that much, but the specific details were hazy and out of focus. When his head cleared the monsters that had been on his side of the field were standing in front of him glowering. Then they all disappeared and he was attacked by Rafael's guardian and his life points dropped to zero. The seal started to close in on him then, readying to claim his soul, but he was shoved from behind out of the center. He turned around to see Yugi standing where he had been, with a sad look on his face. Maybe it was disappointment? Probably. The boy explained, "It only needs one of us. So i'm letting the seal take me instead."

Yami was shocked by this. He didn't want Yugi to take the fall for his mistake, "Yugi, no!"

But the boy was gone, taken by the seal to Ra-knows-where.

Now Yami sat at the window completely alone. The stone reminded him of that duel, how painful it had been to lose Yugi, but it also reminded him of something else. Rafael had said that Yami was evil. Though, at the time, he had given this statement no merit, the more he thought about it the more true it seemed. Professor Hawkins had spoke on an evil king as well. To Yami, it seemed that that king was him. After all, what kind of person would allow their partner to give up their soul for their mistake? What kind of person would sacrifice a child like that?!

He pounded his fist on the table, enraged with himself. In doing this he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. A glowing green symbol had appeared on his forehead when he had displayed his wrath toward himself. It was the orichalcos...

But why? How? This wasn't a duel and the card was in his deck all the way across the room. He was upset, angry with himself, but behind these feelings was something else: power, immense power. He hadn't noticed it before, but now he could feel it poisoning his mind, seeping into every part of his being. The ancient evil power, so potent he couldn't believe he hadn't noticed it sooner, coursed through his very veins. He stared at himself, the seal glowing bright on his forehead, and placed his hand on the mirror, wishing it weren't real. Playing the card did more than just affect him in the duel. It had infected him.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2:**_

Joey, Tea, Tristan, and Duke sat around the table giving Yami worried looks, who, for his part, was staring down at the table avoiding their gazes. Tristan was standing, leaning against the counters, and asked, "So let me get this straight. That 'Seal of Orichalcos' thing infected you with some kind of virus? I thought it was just a duel monsters card."

Yami spoke but did not lift his head, "Duel Monsters is more than just a game. It was played in ancient times by sorcerers that used magic to summon monster spirits. That magic was infused with today's cards upon their creation."

"Ok. I understand that, but how can a card affect things outside of a duel?"

Duke shrugged, "Beats me. I'm lost."

Yami sighed, "I'm not sure, Tristan, but out of everything we've witnessed I doubt anythings impossible."

Tea voiced her thoughts, "We've see this kind of thing before, with cards affecting things outside a duel. This shouldn't come as any surprise."

Something dawned on Tristan, "Like when Bakura summoned those monsters into reality at duelist kingdom!" He hmmed a moment then spoke again, his voice taking on a worried tone, "That was some pretty crazy stuff... What will this mean for you then?"

Yami continued to avoid their eyes, "I'm not sure. Anything's possible. Given the nature of the seal there's no telling what might happen, but we can be certain it won't be good. Its possible I could go mad."

Joey punched the table, startling Yami; he lifted his head to look at Joey, who gave him the look that told him the Joey was worried an frustrated that he couldn't do anything to help. It was the look he had always given when he talked about how he couldn't help Serenity with her operation. In the end he had helped, but only because Yugi gave him the Duelist Kingdom prize money. It was the same look he got whenever one of his friends were sad. Now he stared at Yami with that look, knowing there was no way he could fix things. Seeing the startled look on his friend's face, he sat back down and ran his hand through his hair, "I'm sorry Yu-... Pharaoh. I didn't mean to startle you. You're going through enough right now."

Yami cast his gaze back down, "Yeah..."

His thoughts drifted back to Yugi as a silence passed around the group. He remembered the look on the boy's face, that disappointment in Yugi's eyes was an image that haunted him, chilling his bones and making him shudder. It was because he knew he'd been wrong to play the card. If he hadn't they still would have lost, but both of them would still be here. Yugi paid the ultimate price for his mistakes.

"Don't blame yourself. He choose this. It wasn't your fault."

"What?!" He exclaimed. Looking around, he was in his mind space now. It was dark here now. He was in the hall between his two minds. A bright green light shown from behind him. Turning around, he gasped at the sight of his door. The Seal of Orichalcos glowed on his door. Green lines of corruption spread out from it. Symbols glowed in random places along his walls. The voice that had spoken to him was melodic. It was sweet and calm and made him feel that way too. It seemed to resonate from everywhere at once, but was soft and caring at the same time.

"Who said that?" he asked, to nobody in particular, hoping it would answer him so he wouldn't be so alone here.

"Wake up." It said.

"Wait. Who are you?"

"Wake Up."

And with that he opened his eyes to reality. Yami looked up at his friends, their faces were a mix of worry and fear. What had happened? He was startled by their expressions, it mixed with his confusion and displayed itself clearly on his face.

Tea moved forward, like she wanted to hug him, but stopped and asked, "Pharaoh... Are you alright?"

Her question didn't register yet. All he said was, "What... happened?"

Duke piped in, "You went all wide-eyed and that Orichalcos thing appeared, then you closed your eyes and weren't responding to us... you weren't responding at all."

"We thought you weren't going to wake up." Tea admitted, blushing slightly at the concept of how foolish that thought was.

"I'm fine. I think I just need some rest." Yami said, hoping to drop the subject.

"Its late. We should all get some rest." Tristan nodded. Everybody agreed and they headed off the bed.

Yami lay there that night wondering why he hadn't told his friends about what had happened.

"_Because you can't trust them."_ The voice was back. He was still in reality, but he could hear it as clearly as he could in the mind space. The others were fast asleep, so he replied to it, "What do you mean?"

"_They're not your friends, Yami. They're his friends."_

"Who's?"

"_Yugi's. Can't you feel it? They don't like you. They don't like you because they blame you."_

Yami replied with depressed silence to this statement.

"_I don't blame you, Yami. It wasn't your fault."_

"But... it was."

"_No it wasn't. That foolish boy choose his fate. There was nothing you could do."_

"I-I could have stopped him! But I didn't! I failed! I failed Yugi, his friends, and the world!" Yami shouted in rage, inciting the symbol to appear and fade once he'd calmed.

"_You couldn't have stopped him. You've not failed, but if you continue on the path you're headed you will."_

"How do I prevent it...? What path should I take?"

"_Use the seal... Use it and capture souls. Redeem yourself."_

"That seal is evil."

"_No, Yami...The seal is the ultimate good. It will bring the the Great God back to Earth so that he may fix everything."_

"But-"

"_Hush now, Yami. You're tired, aren't you?"_

"yes... Yes, I am."

"_Then sleep."_

"But... Who are you?"

"_Sleep."_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter 3:**_

Yami awoke to the sun shining in his eyes. It was midday and nobody had bothered to wake him. He remembered the conversation he had last night. How had it ended...? It didn't matter. He was used to having voices in his head, or being the voices in somebody's head. It comes with being a spirit.

"_Good morning, Yami."_

"I wouldn't call it morning."

"_No. Its afternoon. How are you feeling?"_

"Strange, but that's to be expected. I'm ill."

"_Where are his friends?"_

"I'm not sure. By the way, who are you?"

"_They've left you, Yami, but i'm still here. I'll always be here for you."_

Yami was silent. This voice made a good point. They had left him, without even bothering to wake him. Even Yugi had left him.

"_Yes. He did. You didn't do anything wrong and he chose to leave you."_

"You're right... He did..."

Tea walked in the door, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge. She smiled at him, "Hey, Pharaoh. Feeling better today?"

"_Don't trust her. She left. She blames you. She's evil."_

This shocked him and he accidentally spoke aloud, "...Tea?"

The question was meant for the voice, but Tea knew nothing about it, so she answered, "yes? Is something wrong?"

He looked at her. She was worried again. He wanted to tell her what was happening, tell somebody about the voice, tell anybody about everything, but he wasn't sure... Looking at Tea she didn't seem to hate him, she didn't seem upset. It could be a facade though. Its quite possible she was just pretending to care... "Its nothing, Tea. I apologize for making you worry. I'm fine."

"Oh. Ok. My and the guys are outside, if you want to come out. We're going to town."

"_They were going to go without you."_

"That sounds good, Tea. May I come as well?"

"Sure."

She walked out the door to the card, waveing to him as she left. Yami put on his jacket (Though its pointless since they were in the desert.) and headed outside.

The car ride had taken fifteen minutes. In those fifteen minutes Tea had discussed in detail with Tristan about their recent volleyball match, which had apparently happened while Yami wasn't present, and Duke and Joey were argueing over the radio station. Eventually Duke won the argument and Joey sunk down in his seat grumbleing. During the trip it seemed like everything was normal. Yami didn't speak much, he was having a conversation in his head. The voice was very convinceing. It seemed to know everything and it didn't mind talking to him about the things he could only discuss with Yugi before, the things normal people didn't understand. It also made him realize things he hadn't before. Now Yami understood that he was evil, evil for trying to stop the raise of the Great Beast. It was taking much convinceing on the part of the voice, but it was managing to make him see that Yugi's friends were decieveing him. The car pulled into a parking lot at a large mall. The group made their way inside, and split up when they got through the doors. Joey ran off but didn't mention where he was going. Tea went to a popular clotheing store, and Duke and Tristan went to look at the shiny new car on display. Yami was left standing on his own at the entrance.

"_Why not find some place to go? See if there's anybody willing to duel. You can start to repent right now."_

Yami nodded. He began to walk through the mall looking for somebody will a duel deck. He checked the first level of the mall. It took him a full hour just to get though that level, and there were two more to go. Just as he was about to start heading upstairs somebody shouted from behind him.

"Hey! You!"

He turned around, seeing the kid stareing right at him. The boy was much taller than him and he was wearing his hat backwards. The boy sneered and said, "So you're a duelist?"

Yami wondered how he knew, but then realized he was still wearing his duel disc. The boy didn't give him time to answer, "We don't like newbie around here. Meet me in front of Fast Stop gas station in half an hour so I can see what you're made of. I'll decide if you're good enough to be a duelist."

The boy gestured to the other two boys he had with him and then they all walked off.

"_It seems that we have found ourself a duel."_

"It seems so." Yami answered, taking no notice to of the people stareing at him as it seemed he was talking to himself. He set off to find the entrance. There was a duel to get to.

After a half hour he found the Fast Stop gas station, where the boy he'd met earlier sat on the metal railing near the door with his two friends. When he saw Yami approaching he hopped down and crossed his arms, "I didn't think ya'd show up! You must think you're pretty good to go up against me!"

Yami rolled his eyes. He was starting to get sick of these narcissistic people who thought they ruled the planet because they could bully others. The boy scoffed, "Alright then! Let's duel!"

The kid pushed a button on his plastic knock off of a duel disc and it activated, bringing out the card area and and clicking it into place. Yami's disc did these things automatically and the duel began. The kid drew a card and shouted, "I play Silver Fang in Attack mode!"

Yami drawn and said, "I summon the Celtic Guardian in attack mode. Also, i'll place two cards face down. Now, guardian, attack Silver fang!"

The elf ran across the field and swung his sword, destroying Silver Fang. The boy snarled, but Yami took no notice. He was looking at the cards in his hand. It was there. He had drawn it in his first turn. The Seal of Orichalcos.

"_Use it, Yami."_

He whispered so the others present could not hear him, "I can't. I can't seal another soul."

"_Look at him, Yami. He deserves it. There is evil in him."_

Yami looked over at the boy as he took his turn. The teen summoned another monster, so Yami activated his trap card and the monster was destroyed. Now it was his turn. He watched the boy glower at him. He might be evil...

"_He is, Yami. Do it. Seal his soul. Use the power of the Orichalcos."_

"Yes!" he shouted, forgetting the others around him, and put the card in play, "I activate The Seal of Orichalcos!"

The boy's friends were thrown back against the building behind them as the seal appeared on the playing field. The boy tried to run away, but hit the edge of the field and found that he was trapped. He turned to Yami, still glowering, and yelled angrily, "What is this?!"

The seal had appeared on his forehead and a strange black aura surrounded him. He was looking down at the ground, and if you listened closely you could hear the quiet, evil deranged laughter that was growing louder. The boy stepped back as Yami looked up at him, his irises glistening red, and laughing.

The boy recovered from this surprise and became angry again, "What the heck, Man?!"

Yami smiled wickedly, "Its called the Seal of Orichalcos, and it just made this game a lot more interesting! You see, if you lose this duel you'll also lose your soul!"

He summoned three more monsters to the field and placed a card face down. Since the boy had no more monsters on the field he attacked his life points with all four monsters, bringing him down to 300. The boy started to panic. He wasn't sure if he believed this stranger could actually take his soul, but he didn't want to find out either. In a desperate attempt to save himself he played a trap card, "You're stuck now! This trap card prevents your monsters from attacking me so long as this monster's in my graveyard." He held out a card from his hand, showing it to Yami. Then played another card, "And with this card i'm able to discard one card from my hand and automatically ends my turn." He said as he put the card he'd shown him in the grave yard. The magic card then activated, creating a barrier between Yami and him. Now it was his turn, and the pharaoh was completely unphased by the cards his opponent had played. He drew a card from hid deck and laughed evilly upon seeing it, "I play this card: Ectoplasmer! It allows be to use the souls of my beasts to attack you directly!"

"B-but my barrier!"

"Your barrier can't protect you! Now, Ectoplasmer, take to soul of Celtic Guardian and use it to wipe out my opponent's life points!"

With that attack the boy's life points became zero, and his soul was beginning to be taken from him as the seal closed in. Yami looked to the boy's friends, malice in his eyes, "Who's next?"

The two teens ran away as their friend fell to the ground. The seal faded from Yami's forehead and his eyes closed. He swayed on his feet a little and put his hand on his forehead, waiting for his vision to clear. When it did he glanced around and wondered out loud, "What happened?"

"_You won, Yami."_

"How...?" He asked the voice, but then his memories rushed back to him and he gasped at the teen laying on the pavement.

"Why! Why did I do this?!"

"_Because it was necessary, Yami."_

"Necessary? How?"

"_That boy was evil. Now there is one less evil soul in this world and he is aiding in bringing about the ultimate good. You've done a wonderful thing."_

"I... I guess you're right."

"_I've never lied to you, Yami, and I never will."_

"We should get back before Yugi's friends leave without us."

Yami headed back toward to mall where Tea, Tristan, Duke, and Joey were, but he was different than he was when he left them earlier that day. Now he held a soul in his pocket.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Author's Note: Ok. They're getting somewhere. There's a Duel in this one too. Its kinda similar to the actually duel, but shorter and different... Ok, well, enjoy?**_

_**Chapter 4:**_

The group of friends had returned to Rebecca's Grandfather's trailer after their trip to the mall. Tea was feeling better after that. She hadn't packed enough clothes for an extended stay in America, but the shopping trip had solved that issue. Duke sat in the driver's seat of his car, satisfied that it was working correctly again. They all had fun on their trip to the mall, but they'd only gone so Duke could get his car tuned up. Driving over the rough terrain of the desert had really done a number on it. He looked in his rear-view mirror and saw that everybody was laughing and having a good time, well, almost everybody. Yami sat in his seat, elbow resting on the edge of the door with his hand propping up his chin; he was gazeing absently out at the scenery. Duke was curious so he asked, "Hey, Pharaoh, what's up?"

"Hmm?" Yami turned to look at Duke, when the question registered he responded, "Oh. Nothing."

Duke could tell he was lieing, could see it in his eyes, "Are you alright?"

Yami gave the best fake smile he could, "Yes. I'm perfectly fine. Thank you for your concern."

Duke raised his eyebrow, still not believeing it, but let the subject die. He didn't want to press matters and risk upsetting his friend. Still, it seemed like there was something important that he wasn't telling them. Maybe it was nothing.

Arriveing at the trailer they were greeted by Rebecca, who was holding out slips of paper to them. She looked upset, like she had been crying. Tea was the first to ask her why. Rebecca pouted and said, "I finally got your flights to Florida booked, but Grandpa won't let me go."

Yami was silent. After a few seconds of thought he replied, "Its probably beast you stay here with your Grandfather. Make sure everything's ok."

"But I want to go save Yugi!"

Tea put her hand on the small blond girl's should, "Rebecca, we all want to save Yugi, but it'll be dangerous out there and your grandfather just doesn't want to see you get hurt."

The little girl pouted, but didn't protest. She knew Tea was right.

The next morning the group set off on the train. Tea sat with Joey. Tristan sat with Duke, much to their dislike, behind Joey and Tea, and Yami sat across the aisle on his own. There was a tense air about Yami, and one look at him told you something was very wrong. Tea was sad for her friend. She wanted to cheer him up. She smiled at him, "Hey, Pharaoh. Are you excited to go to Florida? It'll be warm there and we can go to the beach! It'll be so fun!"

Yami looked at her, not bothering to hide his depression, and simpley said, "I need some air." Before standing up and leaveing the train car. He stopped in the small area between cars and leaned against the wall. Yami sighed, looking at the card that he'd taken out of his pocket. It displayed a mean-looking boy with covered by the seal.

"_You did well, Yami. That's another soul for The Great Beast."_

"Yes. When I capture more then the ultimate good will return to Earth, correct?"

"_Yes, Yami. The world will be ridded of evil. Good will prevail."_

"I'm glad. I just wish it could happen without the need to use Yugi."

"_The boy has evil in his heart, Yami. He wanted to stop the rise of The Great Beast."_

"Yugi is a good person. I'm sure we could convince him that what we're doing is right."

"_Possibly. You could try, but I highly doubt you'll convince him."_

"At first I was on the evil side, trying to stop the Great Beast, but you've convinced me of my sins. You've reformed me, made me see the truth. I'm sure we can do the same for Yugi."

Yami put the card back in his pocket and went to see where Yugi's friends had gone. A few cars down he found them. It was odd. The train had been full of people and suddenly every car was empty. If he hadn't heard Tea saying, "Don't say ghost either…" in the next car he would have sworn they had been a hallucination as well. It was still possible that they were, but much less likely. He entered the car and Joey greeted him with a, "Hey, man, where ya been?"

Yami replied to the question with a question of his own, "What happened? Where did… everybody go?"

Duke didn't hesitate to point out the obvious, "I think we walked into a trap."

"_This is a trap, Yami. And it was that girl who sent you here right into it."_

"What girl?" he whispered to the voice that had been so helpful the past few days in getting his mind on track. It was starting to seem that that voice was his only friend, the only one he could trust.

"_Rebecca. She told you to go on this train. Set sent you into a trap. Maybe she took part in planning it."_

"Rebecca… She wouldn't, would she?"

"_You saw how she reacted when she found out Yugi was gone. She was furious. Of course she'd want to send the person she hated to their doom. But it is her who's in the wrong, not you. You've done nothing."_

He looked up at Yugi's friends, who were all staring at him. He looked from Tristan to Joey to Tea to Duke and back. Why did they look so worried? There was something else in thier expressions as well. It was fear.

Joey touched his own forehead and stumbled over his words, "You got… um… here… Its back."

He hadn't noticed it, but the symbol had once again appeared on his forehead. It was strange, as it didn't generally appear when he was having a conversation with the voice. That, and it wasn't going away. Tea gave him a concerned looked, "Is something wrong? You were muttering under your breath…"

He shook his head and put his hand up, "I'm fine. But it is odd… The seal's only ever appeared when I feel strongly, but always faded after the emotion passed or lessened, or during a duel."

Tristan threw in his two cents, "That is weird. What do you suppose it means?"

Before Yami could answer the train car they were in started to shake. Joey shouted, "I-Its an earthquake!"

But Yami shook his head, "No, Joey, the train car is being disconnected."

They all ran for the door to the cars further up the line, hoping that they too weren't being disconnected. Yami got there first and threw open the door, jumping over to the next car. Tea was next, and she made it over with ease. Next was Joey. He had a harder time as the train was becoming further torn apart. Tristan and Duke jumped at the same time, Tristan grabbing the edge of the door and pulling himself in, while Duke got a grip on the ladder then took Tristan's hand so he could haul him inside. When they were all safe they collapsed to the floor, their adrenaline wearing off. Duke was in shock that he almost died and Joey was the first to speak, "that was close…"

Tea came in next, "Tell me about it…"

After a good ten minutes they got up again and began searching for a way to stop the train. Yami looked at his reflection in the window, noticeing that the seal still hadn't left. The feeling he had right before the train disconnected was still there. It was an ominous feeling. He sensed something familiar yet strange was near.

"Do you understand this? What is this feeling?"

"_They're close. What you're feeling is the seal. Its connected to you, Yami. You can tell when another is near."_

That was a helpful skill. Yami turned to Joey as the taller boy spoke to him, "That thing still hasn't gone away. Doesn't it bother you?"

Yami shook his head again, "I have this strange feeling. I believe there's somebody on this train with a Seal of Orichalcos card besides me."

They all turned to look at him then. It was shock, the expression they had. Joey displayed it the most, "What?! You can feel when one of those evil psychos in near you?!"

Yami winced at that. Evil psychos. It bothered him more than it should have. He didn't let it show though, "It seems that way."

Tristan spoke up, "Guys, I'm not finding anything. The emergency break isn't working. We need to get to the conductor."

The group agreed and headed up the line of cars. In the last car before the head of the train the stood a familiar boy smirking at them and glowering at Yami. This boy had a strange blur haircut and wore a pair of glasses with a beetle at their bridge. Weevil Underwood. He laughed mockingly at Yami, "Hello, Pharaoh!"

Yami growled. There was no time for this! "What do you want, Weevil?"

"Isn't it obvious! I want to duel! You made a fool of me in duelist kingdom and now you're going to pay!"

"_Its him... That one has the seal... but he doesn't deserve it, does he Yami?"_

"No, he doesn't. That boy is a disgrace to the seal's good name!" Yami whispered.

"_Then why not accept his duel, Yami? Teach him that the glorious Orichalcos is not a toy? And capture his soul to become one step closer to bringing about the ultimate good!"_

"I will!" He shouted, "Alright, Weevil, Its time to duel!"

Yugi's friends glanced at each other and Joey spoke for them, "You take care a' Weevil. We'll see if we can't stop this crazy train!"

And with that the others ran to the head car and Yami and Weevil prepared their duel discs. Yami went first. He smiled wickedly at the card he had drawn. With this it'd be a quick battle, but he wanted to draw this out a while. Maybe he'd play it next turn. He decided on a move, "Alright. I summon Red Queen's Knight in Attack mode and place two cards face down. I'll end my turn."

Weevil drew. He already had the Seal of Orichalcos in his hand. All he had to do was play it, but first he wanted a monster on the field, "I summon man eater bug in attack mode."

Yami smirked, "Good. Now I play this trap card! It forces you to discard your hand when you summon a monster to the field on your first turn."

"W-What?!"

"I thought i'd explained that pretty clearly. Should I say it slower so you can understand?"

Wait... That didn't sound like him. That was a hurtful statement. It wasn't like him. Was he losing it again? No... No! He refused to allow that to happen. He would maintain control in this battle, even after he activated the seal... but he had the activate the seal. He had to no matter the cost.

Weevil begrudgingly placed the cards in his hand in his grave yard. His turn was automatically ended, thanks to Yami's trap card. Yami placed the seal in his duel disc, activating it.

"I play the Seal of Orichalcos. It gives each of my monsters a 500 point bonus and it will spell your demise."

"What?! You're can't do that!"

"I just did, Weevil." Yami spat at him. A dark aura formed around him and he began to lost control. No! Not this time! He shouted in his head. It took all his strength but he was managing to control the darkness inside him. I lost because I went out of control. I can't lose again. I won't be able to collect souls... Evil will win if I lose. He continued these thoughts to try to keep himself focus, to motivate him to stay in reality. It was working, but darkness was still slipping through.

"Also, i'll play kuriboh in attack mode. Then I'll sacrifice both my monsters to summon my Dark Magician. Magician, dark magic attack!"

The magician destroyed his bug in one blow. Weevil was dumbfounded. How had this battle gone so horriblely? And it had just started! He drew. This wasn't over yet.

Meanwhile Tea, Joey, Tristan, and Duke were in the head of the train. They had found, upon their arrival, that there was nobody there. Nobody was driving this train. Duke looked at the others and shouted, "What do we do?! I almost died once today, a second time it may not be 'almost'!"

Joey was panicking as well. Tristan piped in, "Everybody, calm down! We'll get out of this! We just need to figure out how to stop this train."

They looked at the controls for the train. It seemed like just a bunch of levers and buttons. They had no idea what any of them did. Duke tried a lever near the window, which released a loud whistling sound, "That's not it."

"No duh." Joey responded, looking around for something.

Tea said, "Joey, what are you looking for?"

"This is a train. There's gotta be somethin' around here to tell us how to make it work."

"Oh! Like a manual."

"Somethin' like that, yeah."

I the next car over Yami and Weevil's battle continued. Weevil now had his Queen bug on the field, but Yami already had a plan to destroy it. "I place this card. It creates a copy of your monster and destroys the original. Now i'll sacrifice the Queen and and my Dark Magician so I can activate this card."

Before finishing his explanation a bit of the darkness seeped through, causing him to have a bout of deranged laughter. I really need to get this in check! He thought. After his laughing fit subsided and he regained control he finished explaining, "This card allows me to bring back a monster from my grave yard. So I choose my Celtic Guardian. Heheh... and i'll play this too. Berserker soul!"

"W-What does that do?!" Weevil took a step back, noticeing how terrifying Yami was beginning to look. Saw how he had broken down into an insane laughing fit. _'this guy's gone completely mad!'_ he thought to himself.

Yami explained the card's effect, "With this card I will draw a card and my Guardian gets to attack you for every card I draw and this card's effect only goes away once I draw a monster. And guess what, Weevil..."

"N-No! It can't be!"

"It is. You made me discard all of the monsters in my deck last turn, so you're in for a world of hurt."

There was nothing on Weevil's side of the field to protect him anymore. So, card after card he lost more life points, soon hitting zero. The darkness was getting through again, and this time he allowed it. After the battle was done he continued to attack Weevil. He only stopped when the holograms disappeared and the blue-haired boy lay on the ground, stripped of his soul. Yami held a card in his hand. Another soul.

"_Good work, Yami."_

"Thank you. We are one more step in the right direction."

In the conductor's car Tea had just found the manual, "Ok, guys! I know what to do!" Tea tried to pull a lever, but wasn't strong enough. The others joined in to help her and the lever came down. The train slowed to a stop in front of the station outside the airport. They went back to the other car, to see how Yami was fairing. He sat in one of the chairs, staring out the window. Weevil lay on the floor unconscious. This time Joey asked, "What happened."

Yami shrugged, "The Seal was played. Weevil ended up losing. That's all."


End file.
